I heard that it'll save you some gas if you throw you vehicle in neutral while idling?

Question

I'm talking about sitting in a traffic jam, waiting for a light, etc. Is this true and does benefit fuel economy, or would it do more damage elsewhere like the transmission?

I need a third opinion.

Answer 1

A mechanic friend of mine said it doesn't make any difference gas-wise, but that since you keep shifting gears, you wear out the car faster.

Answer 2

I heard an interview with a 'Hyper miler' (someone who drives their car to maximize mileage) who talked about turning off the engine for long lights. He said that restarting a car is equal to about 7 seconds of idling, and so you should turn off the engine at long lights. He recommended coasting down hills (put the car in neutral, etc) whenever possible, assuming you have a manual tranmission. However, he did not address if all of this restarting the engine, etc. was okay for the long term of the car.

IMHO, idling in neutral will not make much difference. But, look at the tachometer when you are idling and compare. If the tach doesn't change based on your gear, then no gas savings, the same RPMs is the same gas.

Answer 3

If you are sitting still, your automatic transmission has you pretty much in neutral already (not quite the same, but very close). Mostly, gasoline is just being used to keep the engine itself running.

The bottom line is that any savings in gas that you get from doing this would probably be so small as to be undetectable by you. If you forget to put in back in gear before accelerating, however, you may do some damage to your engine.

You are better off simply accelerating slowly and leaving plenty of following distance between you and the car in front of you so that you don't have to speed up and slow down as often to compensate for the actions of other drivers.

Answer 4

The engines RPM's go higher, when you put the transmission into neutral. The engine will use more fuel to idle. Also, every time you shift gears, more heat is created in the transmission. My husband and I have a friend who is an engineer(and mechanic). Oh, by the by, I'm refering to an automatic transmission.

Answer 5

If you're in an extended traffic jam, turn off the motor. 1 hour of idle time uses 2.2 gallons of gas.

Answer 6

As long as your car is on, gas is being used. If the car is in neutral, the transmission is fine, because it is in neutral. It saves a little gas I guess because you aren't pulling the car. If you are waiting for a light, and driving stick, your car should be in neutral anyway...

Answer 7

If your car is idle for even 30 seconds, putting car in neutral zone is good from both the perspective, for gas as well as car maintenance. But taking neutral and within seconds if you pull it back to drive gear, you will be using more fuel and putting more pressure of your vehicle.

Answer 8

Yes, only if you have an automatic transmission. On automatic trans. the auto clutch is fighting the engine so the engine is working harder than needed resulting in more fuel consumption to keep the engine running. In a manual tans car by pushing in the clutch you basically are doing the same thing. It works I do it all of the time.

Answer 9

No, only if you are rolling down a slope it will save gas. When you stand, the RPMs of your motor are the same whether you are holding breaks or idle on neutral

Answer 10

Evening your all talkin bollox

the truth is if you drive along the road and depress the clutch whilst in gear and hold it down whilst the car is moving then you save fuel, not much . for that short amount of time the fuel doesn`t get thru or something like that.....

Answer 11

Your car at idle, whether in gear or not, is not using much gas. Taking it out of gear won't make much of a difference at all.

You're going to save gas if you accelerate more slowly and smoothly, and avoid speeding up & slowing down on the highway.